Two seniors power Pioneer of Woodland girls basketball team to win

It may not be the Pioneer High School girls basketball team's Senior Night until Tuesday, but on Thursday two seniors showed their stuff.

Regina Lopez and Angelica Navarro drew much of the praise from coach Mark Rocha Thursday after the host Patriots beat Natomas 56-41.

The win brings Pioneer to 7-1 in the Tri-County Conference, which sends three teams to the Division III Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

The Patriots are assured one of those spots since three TCC teams have too many losses to catch them.

Tuesday's senior night game with 8-0 Inderkum, which defeated Pioneer 56-33 in their first matchup on Jan. 22, is the Patriots' chance at a league title. The contest tips off at 5:30 p.m.

But for Navarro and Lopez, senior night started early.

Navarro had precise passing and Lopez stayed active on the boards while each provided solid defense.

"Two seniors like that, they come to play every single night," Rocha said.

Thursday was a bit different because Lopez was the lone regular starter who arrived at Pioneer in time for pregame warmups, meaning Navarro stepped in from her usual sixth-woman role to start at point guard.

Four Patriots were late to warmups -- three particularly tardy -- and Rocha kept them from the starting lineup in each half.

"I hate having to be that way though. It's something that no coach wants to do," Rocha said. "Hopefully it's a lesson learned.

That said, it gave Navarro the chance to start, like she did last season.

"Her game tonight was great," Rocha said of the guard. "One of the better games I've seen one of our girls play all year, all around."

The coach pointed in particular to her passing and pressure defense.

"She did a fabulous job of passing the ball, getting the ball moving," Rocha said of Navrro, who also had five points. "She was incredible tonight defensively. She was all over the place, getting steals, keeping their players from doing anything."

Most hampered was Halle Hamre, who Rocha considered the Nighthawks' best player.

"(Navarro) was moving her feet and Hamre had nothing, because Angelica was defending her," Rocha said.